Solargenix Breaks Ground on Large Solar Power Plant in Nevada

February 15, 2006

Solargenix Energy LLC broke ground on February 11th in Boulder City,
Nevada, on a 64-megawatt solar thermal power plant, the largest of its
kind to be built since 1992. Called Nevada Solar One, the power plant
will employ trough-shaped mirrors to focus the sun's energy onto
"receiver" tubes that carry oil. The hot oil will be used to boil
water into steam, which will drive a turbine and generator to produce
power. According to Schott, which is providing 19,300 receiver tubes
for the plant, its new efficient receiver tube design will heat the
oil to more than 750 degrees Fahrenheit. Acciona Energia, a Spanish
renewable energy company, is investing $262 million in the plant,
which should begin power production next year. See the
Solargenix Web site,
the press releases from Acciona Energia and
Schott, and a
description of solar trough technology
on DOE's Troughnet Web site.

More solar thermal plants could be coming to Nevada. International
Automated Systems, Inc. signed a $150 million contract on February 9th to
install a 100-megawatt power plant for Solar Renewable Energy-1 LLC of
Nevada. The company has developed an innovative technology based on
thin acrylic Fresnel lenses that focus sunlight onto receiver tubes,
and it intends to combine that technology with a bladeless turbine
driven by steam passing through rocket nozzles. See the
press release
and the solar and
turbine technology pages on the International Automated Systems Web site.